live in Wilkes-Barre (2009)

Needs more...well...
Northeastern Pennsylvania has very little to brag about. Besides Lion's Head and Yuengling, the most famous export are fictitious characters on a TV show. One of the few highlights of living in Wilkes-Barre the past five years for me has been the ability to see the Menzingers...Login to Rate

After a short set from Scranton's the High Lites, Dear Landlord took the stage. "Hi, we're Dear Landlord, from Minneapolis," was all they said before jumping into "High Fives" and a number of other songs off their upcoming full-length. The set consisted of mostly songs off Dream Homes, but I was glad to hear "Crashing," from their split with Off with Their Heads. During one song, Brett broke not one but two strings on his guitar, but still finished the song. Unfortunately, most of the crowd seemed unfazed by this. At the end of the set, the band thanked the crowd and cracked a "stay around for the Copyrights, we hear they're incredible" joke, which flew over most people's heads.

With half the band already set up, the time between Dear Landlord and the Copyrights was pretty short. Most of the crowd was still outside smoking in the alley when the Copyrights jumped into "Planet Earth 1994." They then played "Second Hearse Same as the First" and "57 North," the openers of one of last year's best pop-punk albums. The set covered the bulk of both Learn the Hard Way and Make Sound, with highlights including "Charlie Birger Time," "Thinking with the Lights On," and "Stuck in Summertime." Adam asked if there were any requests, with the band agreeing to play my requests for "She Turns It Up" and "Button Smasher." They politely declined playing one girl's request for "Locked Outside a Motel," saying they'd never played it live and their drummer, who was ‚??on loan' from the Arrivals, didn't know it. After closing with "Shit's Fucked," they received a pretty decent reception, though it was pretty obvious who this crowd was there to see.

I wish more people had been into Dear Landlord and the Copyrights, but this was the same crowd that pretty much stood still for Off with Their Heads' set last fall, so I'm just going to guess the rest of NEPA isn't ready for Midwest punk quite yet. With Hold on Dodge being some of the best material they've written, the rest of the country should be ready for the Menzingers. Toby knew what he was doing with these guys.